Greenwood Andrews, Nellie (1864- 1958)

Nellie Greenwood Andrews, the first woman in Canada to receive a Bachelor of Science degree, was active in many women's organizations in Regina. Born Nellie Greenwood on April 21, 1864, in Farmington, Maine, she moved to Ontario with her family and in 1880 became the first woman student to enroll in Victoria College. Graduating in 1884, she taught school before marrying Methodist minister Wilbur W. Andrews in 1887; they had three children. When the family moved to Sackville, New Brunswick, she taught at Mount Allison College for two years and served on the Board of Regents for four. The Andrews moved to Regina in 1911 when her husband was named head of the new Regina College. As President of the Saskatchewan Women's Christian Temperance Union from 1912 to 1917, she was a leader in the women's suffrage campaign - participating in debates, chairing the first meeting of the Provincial Equal Franchise Board, circulating petitions, and addressing the legislature on Woman Suffrage in 1915. In 1921, she was elected to the Regina Collegiate Board, the first woman in Saskatchewan elected to such a position. Andrews served in leadership positions in the local and provincial Councils of Women, and was founding president of the University Women's Club in Regina. Her other activities included the Social Science Council of Saskatchewan, the Women's Musical Club, and the Women's Missionary Society of her church. She died in Regina on February 19, 1958.

Elizabeth Kalmakoff